Signs of Fall

The weather here in North Carolina is still peaking into the 80's and 90's during the days, but the mornings and evenings are dipping into the 60's and 70's. This is one of the first signs I notice of Fall.

I have also noticed that my mornings are not as bright at 7 am as they have been the past few months. I wake up with the sun, so until we move our clocks back, I will struggle getting out of bed before the sun fully rises.

Our afternoon walks are a little cooler now and before we know it, the afternoons will be too dark to get in our walk after I get home from work.

Yesterday during our power stroll through the neighborhood, Mother Nature was showing off some of her Fall accessories. This little acorn was perfect.

What's funny about this acorn is after snapping a photo of it, I threw it toward a storm drain on the side of the road. The drain was a good ways away so I did my ole Micheal Jordan, one arm throw, but instead of a point shot, It hit and knocked an empty soda can into the drain and the acorn bounced right back toward me. We got a good laugh. Nick said that could never happen again in a million years. I put the acorn in my pocket and kept walking.

On down the road I noticed these mushrooms growing in a neighbors yard. 

I always find mushrooms fun to photograph and interesting to look at. I made this quick as I do not know these neighbors and they are watching me through their window.

As we were almost home, we could smell a sweet floral aroma in the air. At first we thought someone was drying clothes. We can sometimes smell the fresh sent of fabric softener through outside vents as we pass. But there were no houses close, so I leaned over to sniff some white flowers growing in a vacant yard. “That’s it!” I said. “These flowers are what we smell”. I grabbed my phone from my waistband and asked my face book friends for a clue as to what these were called. 

After no legit answers, I turned to Google. I learned that they are called “Autumn Clematis”.

We are also seeing turning leaves fall from trees and before we know it, the sound of leaf blowers will take the place of roaring lawn mowers.

Speaking of Fall, remember the loofahs I planted in the beginning of spring? They are not doing as good as I thought they would, but I do have a few almost ready to harvest. I can't wait to give you an updated post on those toward the end of September or maybe sooner.